Team-BHP stands for the TRUTH. But Skoda wants to “instigate” Team-BHP and its users!

Team-BHP stands for the TRUTH. But Skoda wants to “instigate” Team-BHP and its users!

This is a discussion on Team-BHP stands for the TRUTH. But Skoda wants to “instigate” Team-BHP and its users! within The Indian Car Scene, part of the BHP India category; Originally Posted by amitk26
Off topic but :
Well margins on car sales ( officially) are wafer thin even for ...

Re: Team-BHP stands for the TRUTH. But Skoda wants to “instigate” Team-BHP and its us

Quote:

Originally Posted by amitk26

Off topic but :

Well margins on car sales ( officially) are wafer thin even for Honda it is 3-5% dealerships are profitable business due to service and acessories.

However this does not include the "Handling charges" and markup on the insurence and "teflon coating" which dealers of all brands leavy.
Overall they still manage to make good money without resorting to blatent robbery and theft of spare parts

Why these guys don't realize that if they indulge in such practices of looting money, they might not have enough cars even to service, leave alone selling.
Making money by service costs is not an isolated problem of Skoda. Even a Maruti is not as cheap to maintain as it was 4-5 years ago, but what the Skoda service center did is not at all justified. The sad thing is that the parent company does not care and this encourages these acts. This can be done by any privately owned auth. service centre, but the company should have a tight monitoring on it so as to avoid such incidents, which sadly is not happening with Skoda. Last but not the least, if a center is authorised by a Company, it should own all responsibilities pertaining to it.

Re: Team-BHP stands for the TRUTH. But Skoda wants to “instigate” Team-BHP and its us

The problem is that like many other cars the less popular cars entered India first. Skoda is here from about 2004 or earlier.

The real thing the Volkswagons came later, Skoda had registered with the Indian customers and they keep buying it.

Why buy a Skoda sSuperb when the real thing VW Jetta is available here, similarly VW Bora got to be renames in India it will attract a lot more customers from the middle Skodas, as for the Fabia, with the launch of VW Polo, Fabia should be history now I am sure sales are declining for the Fabia.

Re: Team-BHP stands for the TRUTH. But Skoda wants to “instigate” Team-BHP and its us

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertfox

Why buy a Skoda sSuperb when the real thing VW Jetta is available here

Just to clarify here, the Jetta is from half a segment below the Superb and the right comparison is with the Passat.

I agree with Thad above, there are quite a few points on which the Superb trumps the Passat; for the past 6 months (actually more) the Superb has consistently outperformed the Passat on sales.

But this is no reason for Skoda to get complacent and ruin things with its service being the way it is right now. Honestly if they had concentrated more on the customer service and relationship building, they would definitely have more than the measly 3-4% market share they have now.

Re: Team-BHP stands for the TRUTH. But Skoda wants to “instigate” Team-BHP and its us

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertfox

The problem is that like many other cars the less popular cars entered India first. Skoda is here from about 2004 or earlier.

The real thing the Volkswagons came later, Skoda had registered with the Indian customers and they keep buying it.

Why buy a Skoda sSuperb when the real thing VW Jetta is available here,

Skoda entered India in late 2001.
The trend you observed is not wrong but the logic is. With the entry of VW they have to put VW brand over Skoda which made Skoda vehicles more interesting than before!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Elsewhere in the world... because you get more car for your money, and in some ways the equivalent Skoda might be almost better than its supposedly-senior VW brother.

A year or two ago, I read an article saying that Skoda's success, in Europe, was, in some ways an embarrassment to VW.

Exactly, I even read (could not locate it right now) that how VW group makes more money by allowing competition among sub companies, and we are the perfect example of it. Hate Polo, buy Fabia or Hate Fabia, buy Polo the money goes to VW.

Re: Team-BHP stands for the TRUTH. But Skoda wants to “instigate” Team-BHP and its us

My friend wanted to buy a C2 segment petrol car, so was in the market taking TD of all the options. He went to a Skoda dealer in Noida (don't remember the name of the dealer).
On inquiring about the petrol Rapid, the sales executive initially suggested (kind of forced) him to go in for a Diesel version instead. But on my friend's insistence for a Petrol model, he told him that there is no Test Drive vehicle available for the petrol model. And to my friend's horror, he also told him that there is just 1 middle petrol variant in a specific color available in the stock which he can buy.
Zapped, my friend immediately decided not to go in for Skoda for sure.

Re: Team-BHP stands for the TRUTH. But Skoda wants to “instigate” Team-BHP and its us

Quote:

Originally Posted by ank.nsit

Such is their Before sales service, forget about an after sale one.

What is wrong in the above? Didn't understand. Petrol cars hardly sell so I am sure most dealerships do not keep that for TD. Also they would not have ready stocks of the same. That is precisely what the SA tried to do. First persuade you to go for diesel and then told you the car of your choice that he could provide. Otherwise you would have to place an order and wait for your car to arrive.

Re: Team-BHP stands for the TRUTH. But Skoda wants to “instigate” Team-BHP and its us

Quote:

Originally Posted by drmohitg

What is wrong in the above? Didn't understand. Petrol cars hardly sell so I am sure most dealerships do not keep that for TD. Also they would not have ready stocks of the same. That is precisely what the SA tried to do. First persuade you to go for diesel and then told you the car of your choice that he could provide. Otherwise you would have to place an order and wait for your car to arrive.

That's what. Instead of giving an option to wait, SA simply told that this is the only piece that is available.
If this will be the attitude of all the SA of SKODA with respect to Petrol Rapid, then basically the SKODA should stop the petrol rapid all together.
I mean if the company wants to provide an option to the consumers, then the dealers should honor that.

Re: Team-BHP stands for the TRUTH. But Skoda wants to “instigate” Team-BHP and its us

And how exactly is this (^) the company's (Skoda's) fault?
The company does make petrol engines, and does sell them. If the dealer suggested buying the one that's available then, IMO he was just giving an option. Did the dealer mention that this is the only car available? And no other Petrol car would ever be allotted to their dealership again? If so, then yes, you could blame the dealer.

I still don't see how this is Skoda's fault.

Last edited by Swanand Inamdar : 6th November 2013 at 16:32.
Reason: spelling

Re: Team-BHP stands for the TRUTH. But Skoda wants to “instigate” Team-BHP and its us

Quote:

Originally Posted by ank.nsit

That's what. Instead of giving an option to wait, SA simply told that this is the only piece that is available.

Petrol Rapids (and Ventos) are produced in limited numbers these days, if at all. After burning their fingers by overestimating the demand leading to stockpiling of the petrol MT variant at least of the Vento for well over a year after its launch, VAG is playing it safe. Your friend could have gone ahead and booked the car if he wanted to wait. Or he could have TDed the Vento petrol, which is essentially the same car rebadged.

Quote:

If this will be the attitude of all the SA of SKODA with respect to Petrol Rapid, then basically the SKODA should stop the petrol rapid all together.
I mean if the company wants to provide an option to the consumers, then the dealers should honor that.

In theory yes. And I do agree carmakers need to get their demand forecasting act right! but it's not exactly a level playing field with the government hiking petrol prices and leaving diesel prices relatively untouched. Even people with limited running opt for diesels nowadays and the fuel-efficient stonkers that the Germans offer gives them ample incentive!

Re: Team-BHP stands for the TRUTH. But Skoda wants to “instigate” Team-BHP and its us

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

And how exactly is this (^) the company's (Skoda's) fault?
The company does make petrol engines, and does sell them. If the dealer suggested buying the one that's available then, IMO he was just giving an option. Did the dealer mention that this is the only car available? And no other Petrol car would ever be allotted to their dealership again? If so, then yes, you could blame the dealer.

I still don't see how this is Skoda's fault.

Yes, the SA said that this was the only Petrol car available which he could buy. My friend did not argue further seeing the attitude of SA. Maybe if he could have insisted for a petrol model the SA would have agreed to make the car available on order.
Dealers are the face of the company. They are the ones setting a bad reputation of the company.

Re: Team-BHP stands for the TRUTH. But Skoda wants to “instigate” Team-BHP and its us

Quote:

Originally Posted by drmohitg

What is wrong in the above? Didn't understand. Petrol cars hardly sell so I am sure most dealerships do not keep that for TD. Also they would not have ready stocks of the same.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ank.nsit

Dealers are the face of the company. They are the ones setting a bad reputation of the company.

They are the face and everything of the company. Front line battle men that go for a war to win customer and not rule over customers.

Regarding the TD and stocks of the petrol Rapid, I agree on what the SA did as petrol cars that too sedan hardly sell and no point in maintaining inventory for a slow moving vehicle (rather non-moving).

Simple example: The Toyota Innova 2.5 D-4D sells like hot cakes and dealers are finding it tough to maintain the scales of production but on the other hand, the petrol variant Innova is a made to order car as it takes 2-3 months to be delivered due to absolutely NO DEMAND! So in your opinion Toyota must stop manufacturing and selling the Petrol Innova?!

Your friend should have booked the car and wait else go to another dealer or choose the VW Vento MPI!

Re: Team-BHP stands for the TRUTH. But Skoda wants to “instigate” Team-BHP and its us

Quote:

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Regarding the TD and stocks of the petrol Rapid, I agree on what the SA did as petrol cars that too sedan hardly sell and no point in maintaining inventory for a slow moving vehicle (rather non-moving).

So in your opinion Toyota must stop manufacturing and selling the Petrol Innova?!

Your friend should have booked the car and wait else go to another dealer or choose the VW Vento MPI!

Anurag.

Without a TD, how could my friend book the car? He for some strange reason did not like the Vento.
If the SA is not willing to provide an option of some car, what will the company do with the manufactured pieces?
I feel that the SA should at least have given him an option of booking the car & should have told him about the waiting period rather than offering him just 1 stock piece. Then my friend could have decided if he wanted to wait or not.

Anyways, he is presently very happy with his Linea T-Jet. So, Skoda's loss is FIAT's gain.

Without a TD, how could my friend book the car? He for some strange reason did not like the Vento.
If the SA is not willing to provide an option of some car, what will the company do with the manufactured pieces?
I feel that the SA should at least have given him an option of booking the car & should have told him about the waiting period rather than offering him just 1 stock piece. Then my friend could have decided if he wanted to wait or not.

Anyways, he is presently very happy with his Linea T-Jet. So, Skoda's loss is FIAT's gain.

Eventually he bought a better car. But this issue is common with almost all car brands and their dealers, except Maruti and Hyundai who have all their cars in the lineup for demo.